Improvement in piston water-meters



- C. C. BARTON 8v J. B. WEST.

Y Fist-on WatervB/[eierl No. 221,147. Patented Nov. 4,1879.

N. PETERS. PHOTO UTHQGRA UNITED STATES PATENT GEETOE.

OHARLES o. BARTON, -OE ROCHESTER, AND JONATHAN B. WEST, orY

GENESEO, NEW YORK. Y

IMPROVEMENT IN PISTON WATER-METERS.

Speciiicationforming part of Letters Patent No. 221,147, dated November 4, 1879; application filed September 17,1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES U. BARTON, of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, and JONATHAN B. WEST, of Geneseo, in the county of Livingston and Sta-te aforesaid, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Water- Meters; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which'- Figure l is a central vertical section in line w w of Fig. 4. Fig. A2 is a similar view in line y y. Fig. 3 is a plan of the lower halt' of the meter, showin g more particularly the arrangement of thebarrel in the case or cylinder.y

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section in line z z of Fig.

2. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the Spring arrangement for shiftin g the valves.

Our improvement relates to water-meters 'having' a reciprocating piston, which at each stroke shifts thevvalves to change the currents of the water. Y

The improvements consist in the construc- 'tion and arrangement of valves and spring for shifting them, as will be hereinafter fully described.

Y A represents the cylinder or case, forming the lower half of the apparatus. B is a casting, forming-the upper half, and containing the water-chambers, the valves, and other operating parts, except. the piston C, which works up and down in the cylinder. The whole is surmounted by a Cap or cover, D, and secured together by bolts a a.

In the casting B are formed two chambers or compartments, b b', with which communicover' two holes on opposite sides of the diaphragm d. The plates are bent at an angle.

as shown, so that when one valve is closed over itsopening its fellow is open, and the valves opposite each other vertically are connected by links or equivalent connections l l, and retain their parallelism at all times. In the center of each plate, and rigidly attached thereto, is a knife-edge, m, which rests in a groove upon the Wall of the chamber, thus allowing the valves to move up and down alternately. The distance between the knifeedges on m must be less than the length of the links l l, and the plates 7c 7c must be elastic, or the links l Z elastic in the direction of their length, and when so constructed the valves will rest firmly on their seats when closed in A either direction, and also have a tendency to close from the center in either direction of their own action when the valve-plates pass the dead-point. r is -a lever, having a knifeedgevbearin g, s, resting in grooves against the wall, which lever is held in place and operatedA by a spring, n, which is pivoted at o o in passages pin line with the center of the arc in which the lever travels and beyond the knifeedges.

The knife edge s is preferably made in the form of a loop, as shown in Fig. 2,. To the outer end of the lever r is attached a chain, u, connected at the opposite end with the top of the piston C, and said end of the lever is also preferably provided with a, roller, v, to take the friction of the piston as the latter rises against it.

I is a barrel, of brass or other non-corrosive metal, located-longitudinally in the casing.

It is of smaller diameter than the interior of the case, excepting a contraction at the top of the'case, in which the barrel ts, so as to leave a clear water-passage, j, from the water-chamber E through throat fw to the bottom'of the The water-passage j, extending all around between the barrel I and the ease A, equalizes thewater-pressure on the outside and inside of the barrel. It is also somewhat shorter than the case, leaving at the bottom one or more ports or passages, j', leading from the passage j to the interior of the barrel bchind or below the piston. The upper end is packed or fitted to prevent the ingress or egress of water at that point, and to insure its cylindrical form. The lower end may rest upon and within right-angled lugs c c, which support and center it.

The operation is as follows: The water from induction pipe c, entering compartment b, passes through the open valve 7i into the barrel I and forces the piston down by its pressure toward the bottom of the case. At the same time the dead water behind or below the piston passes out through ports j into passage j, thence up into chamber E,thencc into compartment b' through the open valve i', when it finally escapes through the eduction-pipe. Just before the piston reaches the end of its stroke it draws upon the lever r through chain u, bringing said lever down and swinging the when near the end of the stroke it strikes the end of the lever r, raising it again above the dead-point, when the .spring u springs over, shifting the valves to their original position. The piston in rising forces the dead water above it out through valve h into compartment L', whence it escapes into the eductionpipe.

le are aware that in pumps two ralves have been connected by a jointed rod, so as to alternately cover and uncover two ports in opposition to eachother. Our valves differ from such in having four valves connected in pairs, and also in the use of the knife-edged bearings m m and the bearing-plates 7a 7c, to which the valves are attached, being bent so that as one valve opens the other will be closed, each opposite pairbein g parallel. The springn insures quick action when the dead-point is passed, so that the valves will be shifted so quickly that there will be comparatively no escape of waste-water in the act of shifting, which lis an objection to the use of counter-weights.

We are also awa-re that in pumps and other water apparatus a lnin g of brass or other noncorrosive metal has been used inside the case or cylinder to prevent rust. The barrel I differs from such in being of smaller diameter than the interior of the case, and also of less length, in order to form the water-wayj and` port-jf, as before described, being, in this re spect, particularly adapted to a water-meter in which alternate currents of water are passed to actuate the pistou.

rJlhe piston G is acylinder, made as near the spccic gravity of water as maybe, preferably hollow, of sheet metal, water-tight, and covered on the periphery with a leather or equivalent packinglightlypressedoutbysprings. Itthus forms a float which is self-buoyant, or nearly so, in the water. rthus constructed, itmoves easily and with the saine resistance whether moving up or down, and will remain in its position when the meter is at rest. The vertical position of the meter is preferable, although it may be used in any position. Any desired registering apparatus may be used.

Having thus described our invention, we

claim- 1. The valve-plates k, connected by liuksl and provided with knife-edged bearings m, the distance between the said bearings being less than the length of the links, whereby the valve-plates will spring of their own accord as they pass the dead-center to carry the valves to their seats, substantially as shown and described.

2. The spring-connection 44n, attached upon pivots o o, so as to swing in the arc of a circle, in combination with a lever, r, provided .with the knife-ed ged bearing s s, the spring-connection inclosing the lever and being connected therewith by the bearing-point t, as shown and described, and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES C. BARTON. JONATHAN B. VEST.

Witnesses It. F. OsGooD, Louis SPAHN. 

